Head, Hand and Heart: An Investigation of Attitude Change in Pre-service Teachers Towards Students with Disabilities

Publication Date
2019-02-01
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Before publication
Rights

Used by permission: the authors.

This is an open access article made available by George Fox University's Institutional Repository here.

Abstract

This paper reports on a research project conducted over a period of five years, with final-year pre-service students at a small Australian Christian tertiary education college. The study examined the students’ attitudes towards children with special needs, as measured before and after a mandatory special education course. This course focused on three aspects: the head, which constituted knowledge of characteristics of students with disabilities; the hand, which referred to knowledge of current research-based educational and supportive strategies matched to student needs; and the heart, which were attitudes of empathy, compassion, and support within a Christian framework. Strategies used by the lecturer to engender the attitude change revealed by the data are discussed.

Description
Keywords
Christian higher education, pre-service teachers, special needs education
Citation

Shields, M. J., & Bolton, D. (2019). Head, hand and heart: An investigation of attitude change in pre-service teachers towards students with disabilities. International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal, 14(1), 1-10. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/icctej/vol14/iss1/4

International Standard Serial Number
1932-7846
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